


Accelerate

by DiurnalDays



Series: Toshillion [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Character Study, Cybernetics, Established Relationship, Introspection, M/M, Original Character(s), Science Fiction, Slice of Life, Suggestive Themes, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 07:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28596489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiurnalDays/pseuds/DiurnalDays
Summary: Before Toshiaki, Axellion was a mechanic by day, burlesque dancer by night. Before Axellion, Toshiaki was a physical laborer by day, wrestler by night. Now, they were Mortem hunters by day and lovers by night.
Relationships: Toshiaki Mizushima/Axellion Aihara
Series: Toshillion [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095440





	Accelerate

**Author's Note:**

> So, I decided to start posting the short stories that I've written about my OCs. These stories will jump around a little bit in chronology to explore different aspects of the characters at different points in their developments. I hope you'll enjoy reading about these characters as much as I enjoyed writing about them.

The sun stretched its rosy fingertips across the horizon, bleeding gold into the sky above and the ocean below as the last spark of daylight sank beneath the waves. A swift sea breeze ruffled Axellion’s hair, his twin ponytails billowing behind him in the wind. He smiled, letting out a jubilant shout as he opened his arms wide towards the setting sun. The ship’s motion controls responded to his movement, picking up speed and throwing up jets of sheer seawater as it did so. 

“Y’all see this?!” he cried. “With the wind at my heels and the ocean by my side, I can rule the world! Watch out, Vita Federation! Keep an eye out, Mortems! This guy right here has the big guns and he’s coming right for ya! Boom boom, baby!“ 

”Axellion!” Toshiaki yelled. He poked his head out of the shimmering curtains covering the side windows of the ship, beckoning emphatically to his partner with his arm. “Could you set the ARK on autopilot and come here for some dinner? I made stir-fried seafood soba today!” 

“You had me at my name, babe!” Axellion called back, voice slightly washed away by the whipping sea wind. “Be right there in a hot ‘sec!”

Axellion motioned downwards in a slicing motion with his outstretched hand, and the ship’s lights changed from a mint green tint to an electric blue. 

“INITIALIZING VMS ARK AUTOPILOT,” a canned voice intoned.

“Captain Axellion Aihara, out,” Axellion said with a lazy two-fingered salute. Then, he pressed his fingers to the neoprene bands around his wrist, and a webbing of armor shot outwards to coalesce into a steel gauntlet. With it, he bumped his fist against the panel behind him and melted through the holographic barrier, reemerging on the other side into the main living deck of the ship, the gauntlet melting back into neoprene as he did so.

The main deck of the ship was an airy space lined with tatami mats, cozy throw rugs, and bamboo furniture. Steel beams stretched overhead to form a curved ceiling, the industrial-strength glass paneling set between the ribs of the ceiling guiding the last dregs of sunlight into the space. The thin deck curtains fluttered about as the cool evening breeze slipped inside. 

Axellion hummed as he caught a whiff of the soba noodles which Toshiaki was already digging into at their chabudai across the room. He pulled a zabuton cushion over and plopped himself down contentedly at his designated bowl of noodles. “Y’know, Toshi, I’ve said this ten billion times already but you sure can cook a mean bowl of soba noodles! You picked the art of cooking up in a jiffy, eh?” 

“Mmph.” Toshiaki stuck his chopsticks into a dish of sesame paste and licked the tips clean. “I learned so fast because I couldn’t just let you cook all of our meals by yourself. Where would I be without you?”

“Well, you wouldn’t know how to cook if I hadn’t met you. And if I hadn’t met you, I’d totally be eating these noodles from the lap of a client at the burlesque joint in exchange for a good buck right now,” Axellion said around a mouthful of narutomaki. “But that’s no fun compared to livin’ out my dream adventure hunting giant poisonous mutated monsters for sweet sweet moolah with my handsome boyfriend on the high seas. So I have you to thank for adding all of that spice to my life!” 

“You’re right about all that,” Toshiaki said neutrally. “Also, you have a bunch of seaweed on your face.” 

“Oh, darn! I do? Could you be a dear and kiss it off then?” 

Toshiaki tossed a napkin at Axellion. “Please be a dear, Axellion, and clean it off yourself.” 

“Awwww,” Axellion pouted. “You’re no fuuuuuun.” 

“I’d call myself a realist first and foremost.” 

Axellion made a face at Toshiaki. Toshiaki smirked - - or at least attempted to until Axellion threw a soggy noodle at him. 

After a playful scuffle over not wasting food, they ate the rest of dinner in companionable silence. When they finished eating, they dashed outside to the side deck, crashing into deck chairs with peals of laughter and the clumsy flailing of limbs. 

By that time the sky was already an opaque dark blue, the clouds above concealing the jealous moon. Axellion reclined in his deck chair with an audible creak, the curtains behind them fluttering in the cold wind. 

“Toshiaki,” Axellion said.

Toshiaki turned his head. His partner’s face was molded into a carefully unreadable expression and -- not for the first time -- Toshiaki appreciated just how talented Axellion was as a dancer and confidante -- the purveyor of words, of chance and vice.

“You know, we usually live life so fast, chasing after the next juicy Mortem kill and fighting Vita Federation enforcers and all, and I love that life, sure, but… I don’t know. I also love days like this after a big kill where we can lay back, breathe, and enjoy each others’ company as lovers are wont to do. You feel that, right?” 

Axellion tossed his head back against the deck chair’s back cushion, his long blond locks cascading over his shoulders in rivulets as he did so. Toshiaki soaked in the sight of Axellion’s curved figure framed against the soft blue light of ARK’s autopilot system, exposed skin lit by the moon. His breath visibly hitched when Axellion’s head turned so that his large violet eyes were focused intensely on Toshiaki.

“It really wouldn’t be so bad if we lived every day like this with each other.”

* * *

Later that night, Axellion stirred quietly. He lifted himself out of Toshiaki’s heavy embrace and slipped his bare feet into a pair of slippers, padding into the dimly lit kitchen for a cup of water. The sink gurgled and splattered water droplets on Axellion’s arms as he raised the cup to his lips for a drink.

Now that Axellion wasn’t putting on a show for Toshiaki, the VMS ARK’s interior was silent and dark. The evidence of their shared life was strewn all over the ARK’s main deck, from the skin-tight clothing discarded on random surfaces to the dirty noodle bowls piled up in the sink. Just as the scant moonlight filtering through the floor-to-ceiling windows illuminated another side of the ARK’s interior, the silence of late night brought out a calmer, more reserved side in Axellion.

Before Toshiaki, Axellion was a mechanic by day, burlesque dancer by night. Before Axellion, Toshiaki was a physical laborer by day, wrestler by night. Now, they were Mortem hunters by day and lovers by night. 

Axellion supposed that just as they both could be split into two different personas by the time of day, the timelines of their entwined lives could also be split into two eras -- before and after meeting each other. Only, Toshiaki’s life before Axellion could be further subdivided into two time periods previous to meeting Axellion -- before and after washing ashore an amnesiac. Axellion had no idea what pre-amnesia Toshiaki had been like, but he was sure that they would love each other no matter when and where they found each other.

Thirst quenched, Axellion padded back to the master bedroom. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of himself in his favorite floor-to-ceiling mirror. He’d traded his neoprene bodysuit for gauzy free-flowing night robes exposing swathes of skin to the warm night air. He pulled his neutral expression up into a blinding smile and struck a pose in front of the mirror before letting his face relax again.

Back in the master bedroom, Toshiaki still peacefully dozed away underneath the sheets. Axellion slipped back into bed and snuggled up against Toshiaki’s firm back. He reached up and stroked his finger along Toshiaki’s cheekbone. Toshiaki didn’t so much as stir, likely exhausted to the bone after a long day of hunting Mortems. Outside the window, the ocean softly lapped at the sides of the ship’s hull.

Not for the first time, Axellion quietly admired his partner’s beauty. If Axellion looked at Toshiaki like this during the day, Toshiaki would grow flustered and shrink away from his gaze. Now, under the moonlight Axellion could get a better look at his partner’s body. There was real strength in Toshiaki’s muscled shoulders, the same shoulders that had shielded Axellion from harm’s way so many times. The scars wrapped around his body only gave him more character, each mark telling a story of a battle fought and won. Axellion wrapped his arms around Toshiaki’s middle and focused on the steady rise and fall of his abdominal muscles. 

“One day, you’ll see yourself the way I see you,” Axellion whispered, closing his eyes with a smile on his lips. “Until then, I’m more than happy to give you enough love to fill two hearts. We can spend every day and night together like this if it’s what you want. If you want something else one day, we can do that too. That’s fine by me. And whether or not you ever get your memories back, I’ll always believe in you.”


End file.
